• The Freedom of Archaeological Research: Archaeological Heritage Protection and Civil Rights in Austria (and Beyond)

    Author(s):
    Raimund Karl (see profile)
    Date:
    2017
    Group(s):
    Archaeology
    Subject(s):
    Academic freedom, Archaeology, Austria, Civil rights, Europe, Area studies
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    European studies
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M60M3G
    Abstract:
    Archaeologists like to think that heritage protection laws serve the purpose to protect all archaeology from damage. Thus, provisions like that of § 11 (1) Austrian Denkmalschutzgesetz or Art. 3 i-ii of the Valetta convention are interpreted as a blanket ban on archaeological fieldwork ‘unauthorised’ by national heritage agencies, and a general prohibition against archaeological field research by non-professionals. The Austrian National Heritage Agency, the Bundesdenkmalamt, interprets the Austrian law in this way. Using the Austrian example as a case study, this paper demonstrates that this interpretation must be wrong, since if it were true, it would revoke a fundamental civil right enshrined both in the Austrian constitution and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union: the unconditional freedom of research, which applies to archaeological field research as to any other kind of academic research, and extends equally to every citizen.
    Notes:
    Pre-print manuscript, published in Public Archaeology 16/1, 2017, 1-17.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    10.1080/14655187.2016.1266228
    Publisher:
    Informa UK Limited
    Pub. Date:
    2017-5-2
    Journal:
    Public Archaeology
    Volume:
    16
    Issue:
    1
    Page Range:
    1 - 17
    ISSN:
    1465-5187,1753-5530
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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